This blog is a tribute of my love and life with my beautiful wife Candice Jennifer Costa.

On February 16th, 2014 Candice had a stroke while in our home in Jamaica Plain. I was able to contact 911 and get her to the hospital (Beth Israel - BI) within 20 minutes. Although she had a swift recovery from this stroke, a series of horrendous blows followed. From a CAT scan, the Doctors in ICU identified a large tumor on her Pancreas which appeared to have metastasized into her spleen, liver and lungs. In order to do a biopsy, the doctors took her off her Heparin (blood thinner) for a few hours. Within this time, Candice suffered another stroke but this time on both sides of her brain and much more significant. They were able to promptly remove the clot on left side of her brain and she was able to gain mobility on her right side as well as speech and language. Unfortunately she was remained with left paralysis.

The results of the biopsy indicated that Candice had stage 4 Pancreatic Cancer with a very high propensity to clot. Her clots had formed in a number of organs; however the Heparin stabilized her for a time. In the five weeks that we spent at BIDMC, we stayed in the ICU, Neurology and Oncology. The plan to treat Candice's cancer was chemo, however she never gained the strength to progress to this next step. Unfortunately, this was never intended to cure her cancer and the focus on her care was considered Palliative.

Throughout Candice's time with this battle, she remained strong, spirited, humorous and brave. I loved Candice with all my being for 14 years and this has been unimaginable to me. I am hoping that this blog can be a place for me to write down the laughs, the memories and the love I have for my wife.

Candice was taken from me physically on March 24th, 2014. She was the love of my life and this blog is only a start of my dedication to keeping Candice's spirit and zest for life alive.

Special thanks and appreciation to Catie Curtis who visited Candice and I in the hospital for a private concert. If you like Magnolia Street, you can purchase this song and many other great ones at: http://www.catiecurtis.com/